The elf stared intently at Garrett, their gaze never wavering, despite the screams of pain from the blue creature down below. They spoke to Garrett, but he couldn't understand what they were saying. However, from the body language and the aggressive way that they were pushing the barrel of the rifle into his cheek, Garrett could tell that they weren't being friendly.

A thought came to Garrett's mind as the elf repeated themselves. This was a fantasy world, an entirely separate world from Earth, filled with its own creatures and cultures. So, why was he able to understand and communicate with Min-Tul, a humanoid leopard, and yet not with this elf?

The elf repeated itself and put a finger on the trigger, pulling Garrett out of his thoughts. "Wait, don't shoot!" Garrett said in a hushed tone, so as not to alert the goblins down below. The elf paused and lifted their finger off the trigger. They seemed to say something to him, but he couldn't understand it. The elf seemed to go through various languages, as Garrett could discern different dialects of the sort, but he couldn't understand any of them.

"Do you understand me now?" the elf said, looking oddly both stoic and annoyed at the same time. Frantically, Garrett nodded his head. "Ah, Illiman. Apologize. My Illiman rusty and not greater."

Garrett breathed a sigh of relief, being able to now understand the elf somewhat. "Don't shoot me. I am not your enemy, I hope." Garrett said that last part under his breath.

"Not enemy?" The elf slowly pulled the rifle away, though kept it trained on him. "Who you be? What faction be sent?"

"No faction," Garrett said, turning his attention to see if the goblins had noticed the two of them. The goblins were, unfortunately, more focused on tormenting the blue creature. "What's your name?" The elf frowned slightly and readied up their rifle. "Ah! Right, allow me to introduce myself first," Garrett said, taking the hint. "I am Garrett Bates."

The elf looked at Garrett before pulling the rifle away. "Name is Cezerie."

"Cezerie, huh?" Garrett said, slowly extending his shielded arm for a handshake. "Nice to meet you."

Cezerie stared at his hand before shaking it back. "Meeting not nice." They gestured over the ledge and towards the goblins. "Goblins capture Ogre. Ogre look to be useful for mission, so I attempt savior of Ogre, but goblins numerous."

There was a small clatter of rocks behind Garrett and Cezerie. The two of them quickly turned around, brandishing their weapons, only to find Min-Tul having accidentally kicked a rock. "Sorry. Am I interrupting something?" Cezerie aimed her rifle at Min-Tul, but Garrett stepped between them.

"Cezerie, this is a..." Garrett looked Min-Tul, whom he just met less than an hour ago, then back to Cezerie, "party member. We were helping each other look for the treasure of Amer-Turul. Don't shoot him, please." Cezerie looked back and forth between Garrett and Min-Tul and slowly lowered her rifle.

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"Whew, thank you, Garrett. Second time just today you've saved me," Min-Tul said, laying a paw softly on Garrett's back and breathing a sigh of relief. "So, gonna introduce me to your new friend?"

"Friend?" Cezerie said, looking over to Garrett.

"Uh..." Garrett said nervously. "Min-Tul, this is Cezerie, Cezerie, this is Min-Tul." The two of them exchanged nods. Cezerie took a perch looking over the ledge while Min-Tul pulled Garrett aside. "Hey, I'm glad you showed up. I was starting to think you had gone without me."

"I couldn't just leave you, plus when you didn't come back, I thought you might have died," Min-Tul said, painfully unable to hide that he wanted to help the crying Ogre that was being held captive to the goblins. "So, that Cezerie. Not many elves know Illiman. They usually don't bother with it, with us being lesser creatures and all that. Honestly, I'm surprised this one is even talking rather than killing you."

"Are elves really that savage?" Garrett said, still faintly feeling the cold metal pressed against his skin.

"Not in a marauder sense, but elves can be pretty stuck up when it comes to what they consider lesser creatures. They normally wouldn't even bother with someone like you or me," Min-Tul said in a low voice. "The fact that this one is kinda helping us shows that they need something and getting it involves us. Do you trust them?"

"I think that if they wanted us both dead and out of the way, they would have done that already. I feel like I want to trust them." Min-Tul nodded in agreement, staring at Cerezie's rifle. Garrett still couldn't believe that someone in this world could even have a rifle. "Cerezie said they needed the Ogre for some kind of mission, but they didn't say anything further."

"So, there's an ogre down there?" Min-Tul peeked over the ledge. "Yep, that's an ogre alright. I wonder what an elf needs an ogre for. And, why those goblins haven't just killed the ogre by now. Most goblins wouldn't hesitate to kill something that moved, so why torture the ogre?"

"That question only answer be down," Cerezie said, approaching the two of them. "Are fighting ready?"

Min-Tul looked at Garrett and the two of them nodded to each other. "We're ready... uh..." Min-Tul coughed slightly to try to lessen the tension he was feeling. Garrett looked over and slyly smiled, knowing that Min-Tul was going through the same concern that he was. "Cerezie, are you a male or female elf?"

Cerezie frowned, their ears falling bit before sighing. "I know looking like I not, but I be of female." Garrett looked over her, now kinda seeing the more slender figure and feminine face. In most depictions of elves that he was aware of, the female ones usually had large chests. Cerezie quickly aimed her rifle at Garrett and Min-Tul, her face turning red. "I am knowing that chest of mine is flat and that appearance be similar of male. I not have issue with chest of flatness, I am having concern of you two be doing the undressing with the eyes."

"I wasn't doing that at all," Garrett said quickly.

"Neither was I," Min-Tul said, shyly looking away again. "Anyways, there's 20 goblins down there. Can we take on all of them?"

"I am to be of support from up above," Cerezie said, turning her rifle down towards the goblins.

"In Min-Tul's state, we can't possibly take on all those goblins," Garrett said, assessing the situation again. "Cerezie, how accurate are you with that rifle?"

"Yes," she replied. She laid down and readied her rifle.

"...Okay," Garrett said, trying to pretend that was a reasonable answer in a situation like this. "So, if we can't take on the goblins with just the three of us, then let's make it four of us."

"So, our goal then is the ogre?" Min-Tul said, getting into a pouncing position.

"While Min-Tul and I do our best to get the ogre free, Cerezie, I want you to try to shoot the restraints. Our priority is freeing that ogre. Everyone clear on that?" Min-Tul and Cerezie both nodded towards Garrett. "Alright, let's go." With that, Min-Tul and Garrett both leaped down towards the goblins.